GOOD MANNERS A DUTY.

Waikato Times, 10 January 1874, Page 2

GOOD MANNERS A DUTY.

Men often speak of good manners as an accomplishment. speak of them as a duty. What, then, are good inanner«^^fl Such manners as the usages of society have recognised m^^J bring agreeable to men ; such manners as take away rudc^^J ness and remit to the brute cieation all coarseness. Ther^^H are a great many who feel that good manners are effenrinate^^H they have a feeling that rude- bluntncis is a great deal m V^^| manly thin #ood manners. It U a great deal more beas v^H But When men are crowded in communities the art of livm^^H together it no small art. How to diminish friction; how ta^H promote ease of intercourse ; how to make every part of a^H man's life contribute to the welfare and satisfaction of those^H around him ; how to keep down offensive pride ; how to^H baniib the raspings of selfishness from the intercourse °f^H men ; how to move among men inspired by various and^H conflittive motives, and yjt not have collisions ; this is the ! unction of good manners. It is not effeminate to be refined. And in this land no man should plead inability. There may be a peasantry in other countries ; there may be a class in. foreign lands who have no opportunities ; there may be those whose toil is so-^B continuous, whose opportunities for knowing what consti- H tutes good manners are so few, and whose ignorance is so- H gross, that they are excusable ; but this is not the case with H any within the sound of my voice. H That a man is a mechanic is no. reason why he should not ■ be a perfect gentleman. I affirm for every American citizen ■ the right to be not only simply a man, but a good-mannered ■ man. I haTe seen men at the anvil who were as perfect I gentlemen as men of books or met* of society. I knowjao I reason why a man who tans hides should not be a gentlecJp. I I know no reason why a man who digs in the soil, a man. ■ w'lo works in metals and woods, a man who builds, should I not be a perfect gentleman. There is nothing in mechanical I occupations which is incompatible with the highest courtesy. I Not only is the violation of good manners inexcusable on< I ordinary grounds, but it is sinful. When, therefore, parents I and guardians and teachers would inspire the young with a I desire for the manners of a good society, it is not to be I thouglrt that they are accomplishments w hich may be ac-^ cepted or rejected. Every man is bound to observe the laws I of politeness. It is the expression of good-will and kind- I ness. It promotes both beauty in the man who possesses it I and happiness in those who are about him. It is religious | duty, and should be part of religious training. (^j This is a great deal of contempt expressed for what is called etiquette in society. Now and then the elements of etiquette which perhaps might well be ridiculod ; but in the mam there is a just reason for all those customs which come under the head of etiquette. There is a reason- which has regard to the facility of intercourse. There is-a reason in the avoidance of offence. There is a reason in comfort and happiness. And no man can aflbrd to violate these unwritten customs- of otiquette who wishes to act as a Christian gentleman, I may speak, also, of a tendency which is-bred by our institutions — the want of veneration. There are various ways in which the want of veneration shows itself. We often hear that there is not the same respect shown for the aged as there used to bo. We know that there is very little^ respect shown for magistrates and men in authority. This is partly due, I think, to the institutions which we live. On© of the unfortunate effects derived from the early stages of democratic training is the sense of personal sovereignty ; the feeling that we stand on a» high ground m anybody else. Under monarchical institution* men are taught to revere the grandjand glorious ini government. The feeling of reverence does not prevail to any great extent among us. I discern a great lack in this respect. Children, now-a-days, are brought up to be pert, to be saucy, to ba almost without restraint. They, are- brought up to havo very little regard either for their parents or their superiors. And, although there are a great many Christian -households where children are rightly bred in this regard, it seems to me there has been a decay of that instruction which used to - prevail, the tendency of which was to make children modest and respectful. We bring up our children to be old' and 1 smart and impertinent. This courtesy, which carries with it respest ; this testimony of veneration to the aged ; this yielding oneself in a< thousand little society rites for the sake of malting others happy — oh, what brightness it gives to life ! What beauty, what adornment it giyes to Christian » character ! There are many other points that I might speak of. Tho effects of punctuality and order ; the relations which men sustain to each other's convenienience and necessities — these and a hundred other branches of this subject- L might discourse upon, but it is- not necessary that I should go into - them. I have given such examples as P have mtrcly as specimens, for the purpose ef calling your attention to the minuteness and carefulness with which the Scripture inculcates these things. It enjoins aot merely the right spirit, but the right spirit manifested in tho-most beautiful way. — Henry Ward Seech or.